Arizona Wildcats climb, GCU receives 16 points in latest AP rankings

Feb 19, 2024, 12:14 PM | Updated: Feb 20, 2024, 6:18 am

Kylan Boswell #4 of the Arizona Wildcats celebrates with Caleb Love #2 after scoring against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the first half of the NCAAB game at McKale Center on February 17, 2024 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

BY DAVID VEENSTRA

ArizonaSports.com editor

The Arizona Wildcats climbed from fifth to fourth in the latest men’s college basketball rankings released by The Associated Press on Monday.

Arizona (20-5) extended its winning streak to six games after a 105-60 blowout over Arizona State on Saturday, the largest margin of victory in the rivalry’s history.

The Wildcats jumped Marquette in the rankings, which suffered its own 81-53 blowout loss to UConn on Saturday.

UConn (24-2), which has claimed the top spot in the poll for six consecutive weeks, earned its first unanimous No. 1 ranking in school history. The defending national champions have won 14 straight games.

Purdue (23-3) fell to No. 3 after losing to Ohio State and Houston (22-3) jumped to No. 2 after defeating Texas on Saturday.

Washington State, which is a half-game behind Arizona in the Pac-12 standings, gained entry into the rankings at No. 21. The Cougars, who were last ranked during the 2007-08 season, are riding a seven-game winning streak and have a showdown with Arizona on Thursday in Tucson.

Grand Canyon (24-2) is 10 spots out of the top 25 but did receive 16 points in the rankings.

The Antelopes have also won seven in a row and are two games up on Tarleton State in the Western Athletic Conference. The ‘Lopes defeated Utah Tech on Thursday and survived to beat California Baptist 79-76 on Saturday.

AP college basketball rankings – Feb. 19

AP Top 25

	Record	Pts	Prv
1. UConn (62)	24-2	1550	1
2. Houston	22-3	1473	3
3. Purdue	23-3	1414	2
4. Arizona	20-5	1373	5
5. Tennessee	19-6	1230	8
6. Iowa State	20-5	1160	10
7. Marquette	19-6	1144	4
8. Duke	20-5	1116	9
9. Kansas	20-6	1065	6
10. North Carolina	20-6	1044	7
11. Baylor	19-6	959	12
12. Illinois	19-6	853	14
13. Alabama	18-7	803	15
14. Auburn	20-6	690	13
15. Creighton	19-7	612	17
16. Dayton	21-4	584	16
17. Kentucky	18-7	540	22
18. Saint Mary’s	21-6	486	18
19. San Diego State	20-6	374	–
20. South Carolina	21-5	346	11
21. Washington State	20-6	215	–
22. Colorado State	20-6	171	–
23. Texas Tech	18-7	135	–
24. Florida	18-7	124	–
25. BYU	18-7	123	19

Others receiving votes in the AP men’s college basketball rankings: Virginia 103, Gonzaga 99, Wisconsin 88, Michigan State 64, TCU 54, South Florida 45, Florida Atlantic 27, New Mexico 27, Utah State 22, Grand Canyon 16, Nevada 11, Pittsburgh 4, Clemson 3, McNeese 1, Drake 1, Appalachian State 1

Dropped from rankings: Wisconsin 20, Virginia 21, Indiana State 23, Florida Atlantic 24, Oklahoma 25

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